Furniture restoration is a great way to give new life into old, antique, or heirloom pieces that may have seen better days. Not only does it save money, but it also helps reduce waste, increases furniture longevity, and promotes sustainability.
Long before upcycling was trendy, I was furnishing my apartments and house with thrifted finds, hoping to give them the Ginny makeover in the future. I had (and still have) these visions of change for each of my thrifted pieces of furniture, whether it be changing out the upholstery, a fresh coat of paint, or full restoration and repair. I want to make each piece uniquely ours to fit our aesthetic and overall vibe.
As someone who cares about both the environment, and her wallet, I am always looking for ways to reduce how much I spend and my overall carbon footprint; furniture restoration is awesome because it does BOTH without even trying.
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The Importance of Furniture Restoration
I think that restoring old furniture is an important practice that can help the environment, that everyone should consider. It could be upcycling and reviving a thrifted find, or helping your current furniture last a little longer with a stylized makeover, or even buying antique furniture that has been professionally restored. Restoration is a sustainable way to keep furniture out of landfills; I cannot image our big ass couch in a landfill taking up so much fucking room. There are also economic benefits to repairing these lost treasures as well.
Sustainability in Restoration
In 2018, the most recent data I could find, 9 MILLION 680 THOUSAND TONS of furniture was sent to landfills; I can’t even wrap my head around how many pounds that would be–something like 19,360,000,000 pounds. That make me super sad. When we repair and renew furniture, we are conserving resources and reducing waste. Instead of throwing away old furniture, we can give it new life by repairing, refinishing, or repurposing it. This prevents the furniture from heading to the landfill prematurely and offers a new, unique piece for your home.
Plus, I’m of the opinion that furniture is one of those things that used to be made with a lot more quality and durability. We have two couches in our basement that were my Grandmother’s and they are so freaking sturdy that I’m pretty sure they will withstand anything our life throws at them.
In addition, restoring furniture is a sustainable alternative to buying new furniture. The production of new furniture requires a significant amount of resources, including wood, energy, and water. By rescuing furniture, we can reduce the demand for new furniture and conserve these resources. And this doesn’t even take into consideration the rise of “fast furniture.”
Trust me, I understand needing that cheap dresser, bed, bookshelf, etc. I’ve been there, 100%. And I actually still own a lot of the “fast furniture” that I got when I moved into my first apartment. The trick to their longevity: NEVER FUCKING MOVE THEM. EVER. If you do move them, take them apart. I seriously have like 500 pound of books on an old Walmart bookshelf made of particle board. I dissembled it every time I moved, and it hasn’t been moved for the last eight years since it’s initial set up when we bought our house. Some of the shelves a little bowed, buuuuut I think this bookshelf will last until we’re ready to upcycle or create our own built ins. And even then, I think we’ll find a use for the particle board from our “fast furniture” bookshelf.
Economic Benefits
Furniture restoration also has economic benefits, such as promoting a circular economy. By renovating old furniture, we save money and create a unique piece of furniture that reflects our personal style. Restoring furniture is often less expensive than buying new furniture, and it can be a fun and rewarding DIY project. I have a friend that is in the middle of reupholstering two beautiful sitting room chairs because the style she wants would be $1200 USD/chair, and she can reupholster her two thrifted chairs for an all-in cost of less the an $100 USD for both chairs. That’s some pretty significant savings.
In addition, restoration can be a profitable business. There is a growing demand for sustainable and eco-friendly furniture, and rehabilitating old furniture into custom creations is a great way to meet this demand, especially since not everyone will have the tools or patience required to achieve the professional look desired.
Furniture Repair with Eco-Friendly Materials
When considering repairing or restoring a beloved heirloom or a secondhand piece that will complete your room, it’s important to consider the type of materials that go into your restoration project. Here are a few things I’ve learned about using eco-friendly materials for our restoration projects.
Recycled Materials
Recycling is one of the easiest ways to reduce our impact on the environment. When it comes to furniture restoration, using recycled materials is a great way to give new life to old items while also reducing waste. If your entire furniture project is secondhand or recycled, even better.
One material that is commonly used in eco-friendly restoration projects is reclaimed wood. This is wood that has been salvaged from old buildings, barns, or other sources and repurposed into furniture. Not only does using reclaimed wood reduce the need for new trees to be cut down, but it also adds character and history to the piece.
We haven’t done any major restorations for our house yet, but we use (and re-use) scrap wood from around our house for everything. We just took out an old window between our entryway and attached garage for the solar contractor to mount our inverter and batteries in that area. And instead of having to go buy a new sheet of plywood from the local lumber yard, we were able to repurpose some old plywood we had lying around. It’s not perfect or super pretty, but it’s in our garage an will eventually be painted. No one will be any wiser and it was completely free!
Our double-bay compost bin is another example of us using various recycled wood we had around the garage. And when we started our closet renovation, we actually used the 2×4 studs from the wall removed to mount our closet system to our drywall. Wood is a precious commodity around here, and we save all the scrap pieces–thank the universe that our garage is huge!
Another option is to use recycled metal for stability, hardware, or accents on furniture. This can include things like drawer pulls, hinges, or decorative accents. By using recycled metal, we can reduce the amount of energy needed to produce new metal and keep waste out of landfills.
Renewable Materials
If you’re doing a project that involves some repair to get your furniture back up to the craftsman quality of it’s glory days, you might need to look for new materials made from renewable sources. Renewable sources are those that are easily able to be replenished, for instance bamboo is fast growing so using bamboo is not as energy intensive or detrimental as using wood and having to clear an entire forest. Bamboo is lightweight and able to be utilized for projects that require your restoration services.
Another option for renewable materials is organic cotton, hemp, linen, or jute. As they are organic, the plants would be grown without any pesticides or chemicals. They are also known for utilizing less water than traditional materials like non-organic cotton and are fully biodegradable or compostable at the end of their lifespan. If you have an upholstery project planned, perhaps to bring your dining room chairs back to life, hemp is a really good option as it is a super-durable material that gets softer the more it is used.
Non-Toxic Finishes
When restoring furniture, it’s important to consider the finishes that are being used. Many traditional finishes, such as varnishes or lacquers, contain harmful chemicals that can be released into the air over time. These chemicals can be harmful to both the environment and our health. When looking for finishing materials, you will definitely want to look for ones that are low in VOCs (volatile organic chemicals), or have no VOCs.
Instead, I opt for non-toxic finishes such as natural oils or water-based finishes; using water-based finishes also makes cleaning up your mistakes a lot easier. These finishes are made from renewable resources and are free from harmful chemicals. Not only are they better for the environment, but they also create a healthier indoor environment for us to live in.
In conclusion, using recycled or renewable materials and non-toxic finishes are just a few ways that we can make eco-friendly choices for your project. By making these choices, we can reduce waste, conserve resources, and create a healthier environment for ourselves (and future generations).
Repair, Refinish, Restore
When it comes to furniture projects, there are many different techniques and tools that can be used. In this section, I will discuss some traditional styles as well as modern innovations that can help make your project more sustainable and eco-friendly.
Traditional Techniques
One of the most traditional techniques for refurbishing furniture is hand sanding. This involves using sandpaper to remove the old finish or paint from the furniture. It is a time-consuming process, but it is also very effective and does not require any harsh chemicals. Plus it is immensely satisfying to see how pretty the wood becomes when it is sanded smooth.
Another traditional approach is hand scraping, which involves using a scraper to remove the old finish or paint. This technique is also time-consuming and laborious, but can be very effective.
The final traditional craft we will discuss is French polishing, which is a method of applying a shellac finish in many, many, many thin layers to the furniture. French polishing is mostly utilized on wood furniture, and you’ve actually probably seen a very glossy guitar or violin that has been polished with this method. This procedure requires a lot of commitment because it is very time-consuming and requires a lot of skill, but it can also produce a beautiful finish that is very durable and will last for years to come.
Modern Innovations
There are many modern innovations that can make restoration more sustainable and eco-friendly. One of these is the use of water-based finishes instead of traditional oil-based finishes. Water-based finishes are much less toxic and produce fewer VOCs than oil-based finishes.
Another modern innovation is the use of UV-cured finishes. These finishes are cured using UV light instead of heat, which means that they produce fewer emissions and are more energy-efficient than traditional finishes, especially if you utilize the renewable UV light from the sun!
Finally, there are many new tools that can make restoring old furniture easier and more efficient . One of these is the oscillating multi-tool, which can be used for sanding, scraping, and cutting. This tool is very versatile and can save a lot of time and effort when renewing furniture.
You know you’re an adult when you start liking power tools.
Sustainable Furniture Refinishing Projects
As someone who is passionate about sustainable living, I have always been interested in using old furniture to create one-of-a-kind-new-to me pieces as a way to reduce waste and give old furniture a new lease on life. In this section, I will share a few sustainable restoration projects, highlighting the eco-friendly practices that were employed.
Refinishing our Old Cabinetry
One of my favorite restoration projects that we’ve tackled since purchasing our home was refinishing our super outdated and really gross kitchen cabinets. They were sticky with the dark stain that was on them and the whole look just really brought down the vibe of our kitchen. This was actually (I think) one of my first big projects that I did mostly myself.
First, I had to remove all of thedoors and drawers. I took off all the hinges and hardware. To revive the cabinets, I washed all the cabinetry I removed, and soaked the hardware in a vinegar solution. I first attempted to strip off the old, sticky varnish with a non-toxic citrus-based stripper; this was really to remove the gross stickiness. I then hand sanded the stained wood the best I could (I didn’t own any power tools yet). This was followed by a several coats of low VOC, water-based primer, and then several more coats of water-based white paint. The project was finished out with an antiquing glaze and another quick sanding in the corners for that beautiful distressed and “not-just-painted” look before I applied a water-based protective wax as a topcoat.
We tried to reuse the pulls and hardware that were originally used on the cabinetry, but they were so gunked shut with whatever was making the doors sticky (the oak varnish, I think) that no amount of vinegar or citrus stripper helped. We ended up going with the cheapest drawer pulls and hinges we could find at the time (we’d just bought a house, started paying on our student loans and were really fucking broke). And they are still working 8 years later.
Over the years, we’ve had to add some non-toxic, water-based wood filler to our keep our door hinges in place, but we’re hanging in there even with four cats and two rambunctious dogs scratching the paint occasionally. It’s probably just about time for a refresher coat, but that’s probably a low-priority project right now.
This restoration project not only saved me a lot of money from having to fully replace our kitchen cabinets, but it also gave them the modern update they needed to vibe with the aesthetics of our home. By using non-toxic strippers and water-based/low VOC paint options, I ensured that my restoration project was sustainable and safe for my home environment and that my cabinets would provide me many, many, many more years of wear and tear.
Saving a Forgotten Coffee Table
My friend, Debbie at HenHouseAcres, updated a $5 flea market coffee table by using CitriStrip and some fresh paint. She saved this beautiful table from a landfill and gave it a second life by updating it in a style that was more aesthetically pleasing to her. She uses water-based and low VOC primers and paints and provides valuable insight on the details of all of the furniture she refinishes, including images of the supplies she uses to give these forgotten pieces of furniture new life.
The Future of Furniture Repair and Restoration
As someone who is always looking for ways to use what she already has (who has time or money for stores and shopping), I believe that restoring furniture is an essential part of the future of eco-friendly living. Instead of throwing away old furniture and buying new ones, restoration allows us to extend the life of our existing furniture and reduce our carbon footprint. You can also think outside the box and give your furniture a new purpose if you need to grow and get something bigger. I’ve seen several dressers turned into kitchen islands on Pinterest, and as we move our bedroom to be dresser-free with our closet upgrade….a dresser-turned-island project might just be calling my name. And I know more ways to be eco-friendly for this project than I have in the past for several of my other projects.
Long-Term Impact
In the long term, I believe that furniture restoration will become an even more critical part of the sustainable living movement. As we become more aware of the impact of consumerism on the environment, we will start to prioritize restoration over buying new. This will not only reduce waste but also help to preserve the unique character and history of our furniture. As we continue to develop new eco-friendly materials and approaches, restoration will become an even more viable option for preserving and updating our existing pieces. By investing in high-quality items, professional furniture repair and restoration work, we can ensure that our furniture lasts for generations to come.
I believe that the future of furniture restoration is bright. As more people become aware of the benefits of restoration and the impact of consumerism on the environment, I believe that we will see a shift towards restoration over buying new. This will not only benefit the environment but it will allow each of us to get creative to produce furniture as unique as our individual personalities. Anyone else ready to find a project?? I know I have several “repair” projects that need attention.
